She left
by Emerald Penguin
Summary: After Sarah left Jareth fell apart. The Doctor wants to help but will Jareth let him? Especially now he's beginning to question his and Rose's relationship S/J & DRX/R
1. Chapter 1

Jareth stormed up the stairs to his chamber and slammed the door. Finally allowing the grief and anguish that had been hovering at the edge of his consciousness since she had left to break free and he howled in pain. The sky above turned back and rain began to pour as the a violent storm began to attack the underground.

The goblins and other strange creatures that lived in the surrounding city and labyrinth looked to the sky with fear in their eyes before rushing to find shelter. In his time as king even his worst temper tantrums had not caused such a terrible storm. His underlying love for his kingdom and his people had always kept Jareth from doing and really damage but now he felt as though his heart had been torn out and he couldn't bring himself to notice or care about the amount of damage he was doing.

Even as the voice of the labyrinth called out to him, he did not hear. Sarah had gone. She had left him. She had not loved him. She had gone. She had left him. She had not loved him...

*

The energy spike shot through the Tardis, shaking her and the Doctor violently.

"What was that?" exclaimed Doctor, as he scrambled off the floor to the control panel.

"Doctor?" Called Rose, "What happened?"

The Doctor frowned briefly before answering, "I'm not entirely sure. It was some kind of energy spike but so far as I can tell it didn't actually come from anywhere. Luckily that means that it must have come from somewhere Underground. Of course that isn't all that helpful as there are an awful lot of Kingdoms underground and not all of them like me."

"You know, I have no idea what you just said," laughed Rose, suddenly the smile vanished from her face, "Doctor why do I suddenly want to cry?"

"Cry? Really?" Asked Doctor, "That's strange, I was getting more of an anguished scream. It does however answer one question. There's only one person in the Underground who's emotions could do this. Rose, have you ever met a goblin?"

*

A strange blue light and pulsing noise filled the castle courtyard, bringing a hoard of goblins to investigate, despite the ferocious weather. When they found a large blue box in the middle of the king's favourite courtyard they immediately began to wonder how they were going to get it to the Junkyard, especially with His Majesty so unhappy, they wouldn't want anything else to upset him. The talk only stopped when a tall man and a woman stepped out of the box.

Silence filled the courtyard momentarily as the goblins looked up in wonder and annoyance at these two unwelcome visitors until one particularly brave goblin spoke up.

Her name was Greta and she wasn't about to let these new comers upset His Majesty, " Listen Mister," she spoke in a high pitched yet weirdly stern voice for someone so small, "My family has worked for King Jareth for a very, very long time and I'm not about to let you go and upset him even worse. So you can take your box and remove it from His Majesties' court yard right this instant!"

The other goblins looked at Greta with a new level of respect before beginning to nod in agreement with her. This man and his box had no right to upset their King and the sooner he was happy and singing again, the sooner the storm would stop.

The doctor smiled kindly at Greta before saying, "But I'm here to help, I'm a doctor."

"Kings not sick!" shouted another goblin angrily, why wouldn't these strange people just go so they could get out of the rain?

"Ah," replied the Doctor, "but he's not well either."

This puzzled the goblins into so scilence and Greta was the first to find her voice again.

"King's not sick," she repeated, "King's sad."

"And why's he sad?" asked the Doctor, feeling like they were finally getting somewhere.

At this the goblins looked down and shuffled their feet, not wanting to answer.

"Because Lady Sarah left," whispered Greta, looking up in fear as if her King may have hear her and be angry at her for even saying Sarah's name.

"Leave? Who was she? And why did she leave?" demanded the Doctor, but this, it seemed was a question too far as the goblins quickly began to disperse.

Rose and the Doctor started forward, as if to follow them, but the goblins moved in such a wild and haphazardly manner that it was impossible. Soon they were left standing in the courtyard, completely alone, in the middle of the most violent and tempestuous storm they had ever witnessed.

"Doctor, maybe we should wait for the rain to stop," cried Rose over a roar of thunder.

Doctor nodded and they were about to head back to the Tardis when he felt a tug on his coat.

"Did you say you can help His Majesty?" cried a short fellow with a large nose. Not a goblin but perhaps a dwarf.

Again the Doctor nodded, not bothering to try and shout over the noise of the storm. The volume of the storm rose another notch and the dwarf motioned for the two to follow him, Doctor glanced at Rose and shrugging began to follow.

They had not gone far when they found themselves in another courtyard, except this one was sheltered from the storm and was strangely peaceful after all the previous noise.

"Do you really think you can help him?" he asked in a scornful tone but with an underlying air of worry, concern and hope.

"Yes," replied the Doctor, simply and earnestly.

"Right then, I is Hoggle and if you're to help His Majesty then you shall be needing to know what is wrong with him," stated Hoggle, rolling his shoulders with the air of pulling himself together.

"One of the goblins said that he was sad because some called Lady Sarah left. Is that right?" asked Rose, speaking for the first time since they had arrived.

"Stupid gossipers," mumbled Hoggle, "Don't even know the half of what happened. But yes, that's sort of the gist."

"Did he love her?"

Hoggle looked surprised at Rose's question but answered regretfully, "More than anyone could imagine."

"So basically he's suffering from a bad break-up," summarised the Doctor earning a glare from both Rose and Hoggle.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Hoggle growled, he may not like Jareth personally but that did not mean that outsiders could just insult him like that! "King Jareth is not some weak human school boy with a crush! There have been prophecies about His Majesty and Lady Sarah since the beginning of time! With her at his side he would take his place a ruler of all of the Underground, finally uniting all of the Kingdoms and restoring them to their original strength!"

"So what went wrong?" asked Doctor intently. "If it was all so perfectly planned, what happened?"

"The time line was off," explained Hoggle miserably, "She came too early, she was too young. She didn't understand. So she left. And His Majesty has been wasting away inside ever since. She left near six years ago, and it has been raining ever since."

Both the Doctor and Rose were momentarily silenced by this information, each lost in thought, until the Doctor roused himself and asked, "But why does it not rain here?"

The courtyard that they were in was as much outside as the other had been, it had no roof and looking up you could see the dark sky and yet no rain fell here and the sounds of the storm seemed distant and soft.

"This is His Majesty's courtyard, and he does not wish it to rain here," answered Hoggle simply with a shrug.

The Doctor frowned thoughtfully for a moment more before declaring cheerfully, "Well Hoggle, I do believe it's time we met this king of yours."

*

"Now don't you go upsetting his Majesty, he hasn't eaten or slept since she left but I recon it doesn't take much effort on his part to have us tossed into the Bog of eternal stench," said Hoggle with a shudder.

"Wait, didn't you say she left six years ago? He may be fae but how can he still be alive?" questioned Doctor incredulously.

Hoggle huffed angrily, obviously feeling that this was a stupid question, "I told you, he ain't your average fae. He's heir to the high throne. His father, High King Oberon, is keeping him alive on, well I guess you could call it a magical life support."

They reached a door and Hoggle stopped suddenly, "He's in here. You can go in alone, he's angry enough with me. Oh, and best you don't mention Sarah."

With that Hoggle hurried off as fast as his rather stumpy legs should carry him.

"Erm, should we be worried that his own subjects won't be in the same room as him?" asked Rose with a nervous laugh.

"Possibly," admitted Doctor pushing the door open and striding inside.

*

Jareth did not bother to turn when the door to his chamber swung open, there were very few who would dare to intrude upon his solitude and he didn't care what they thought of him. Besides, from his seat in the shadows, no one would notice him.

"Your Majesty?" called out a strange male voice in puzzlement at finding a seemingly empty room.

"What do you want?" snarled Jareth, his voice harsher than it had even been through lack of use.

Footsteps came slowly closer to his seat in the shadows, following the sound of his voice, "I just want to talk. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, We're here to help."

"And what," growled Jareth, stretching himself up to his full, considerable height, "makes you think I need your help?"

The Doctor and Rose were momentarily silenced by Jareth's appearance. Even in his current state he was an impressive sight. His long lock still stood erects but instead of their old platinum colour they were the deepest shade of black. His clothes were dirty and dishevelled, the collar of his shirt ripped. And his eyes, once happy and mischievous (if piercing) were as hard as ice.

"You cannot help me," he spat bitterly, "No one can."

"That's not true," murmured Doctor, "If you let me, then I will help."

The Doctor was about to speak again when he felt a tap on his shoulder, Rose motioned towards the door where Hoggle was waving frantically at them.

"What is it Hogwart?" grumbled Jareth, seemly used to the dwarfs presence.

"Hoggle," corrected The Doctor and Rose simultaneously.

"There's a child about to be wished away Sire," answered Hoggle, annoyed that the King still couldn't remember his name.

"So?" snapped Jareth, "You know the drill; send the goblins and put one who can actually speak in charge of explaining the labyrinth this time."

Hoggle looked rather worried and was obviously desperate to get out of the rage of his king's crystals but he pressed on.

"Actually sire, I think you'd better see to this one." Something in Hoggle's tone of voice must have registered with Jareth as he pulled out a crystal and stared into it briefly.

His expression tightened as he watched the scene unfold, his jaw clenched and his eyes flashed dangerously. Then he was gone, leaving a cloud of glitter in his wake. Hoggle breathed a heavy sigh of relief, mopping his brow with a dirty handkerchief.

"What just happened there?" ask a completely confused Doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor, Rose and Hoggle were sat in a room that Hoggle said had once been the throne room. It had once been the centre of activity in the palace but now it was little more than rubble, having borne the brunt of Jareth's anger after Sarah had left. Hoggle was in the middle of explaining how the wished away system worked without making Jareth sound like a cradle snatcher, when suddenly he stopped short.

"Hoggle?" asked Rose tentatively as the dwarf leapt to his feet and with an astonishing level of agility darted to the window.

"It's stopped!" he exclaimed in wonder, "I never thought it would but it has. It's actually stopped!"

"What's stopped?" asked Doctor walking over to Hoggle.

Turning round slowly, Hoggle peered up into The Doctor's face, "The storm," he replied simply.

"And what does that mean?" The Doctor pressed.

"That storm hasn't stopped in six years. Now all of a sudden it stops," murmured Hoggle more to himself than to anyone else. "Six years then it stops. Why would the wind stop? There's only the rain left. The rest has stopped."

Then yet again he took off at a sprint, this time with Rose and the Doctor following behind him. Throwing open the main doors he stopped again, motioning for silence from the goblins milling around the corridor outside. As the last of the hubbub died down a soft sound could be heard from somewhere in the castle.

"_I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry." _

"He's singing!" The whisper ran through the crowd as they surged forward as one, towards the royal chambers.

"_What could I do?"_

The Doctor and Rose hurried forwards, trying not to step on any of the small goblins.

"King Jareth is often known as The Singing King in court. But I'd be willing to bet he hasn't sung much in these last six years!" called Doctor to Rose as they hurried up a flight of stairs, their longer legs meant that they had out stripped the goblins and the only ones in front of them were Hoggle and a fox-like fellow astride a sheep dog.

"_My baby's love had gone, and left my baby blue. Nobody knew:"_

Up ahead they saw Hoggle through open the door and freeze, as another voice joined the King's:

"_What kind of magic spell to use?"_

"Your Majesty?" gasped the fox, while Hoggle groaned, "What have you done, Jareth?"

Approaching the room The Doctor and Rose saw the King sprawled leisurely across his throne with a small boy, no more than six or seven, perched in his lap. With bright blonde hair, much the same colour as Jareth's had once been.

"I? What have I done?" Jareth still smiled at the boy but his tone was harsh. "I have done exactly as you asked of me Higgle. Did you not say that I had 'better see to this one'?"

"Ohhhhh that's rot Jareth," grumbled Hoggle, "That there is Toby Williams and I know it is!"

"Sire! I am afraid, that as a knight of the realm, that I, Sir Diddumus, cannot allow you to capture an innocent child. Especially not the brother of our fair maiden!" cried he, with a flourish of his sword.

Jareth simply chuckled at this display of bravery, bouncing Toby on his knee slightly, causing the boy to giggle manically. "Fear not good knight, I did not kidnap him."

"You did not?" asked Hoggle, perplexed.

"No, he was wished away."

Silence met this last remark, pierced only by Toby's shrieks of laughter.

"I don't believe you!" declared Hoggle, stubbornly. "Sarah wouldn't wish Toby away again."

The room grew noticeably darker very suddenly. Hoggle clamped his hands over his mouth, realising to late his mistake. "You do seem to be fond of my bog, don't you Hogwash. You must or else you wouldn't try nearly so hard to be sent there." Jareth face had darkened again and thunder rumbled ominously outside, but thankfully the storm did not restart.

"You mean," asked Hoggle warily, cautious not to upset the King again, "that that family, the one in the car, that was _Her_ family and _She_ wished him away?"

"Oh dear," muttered Diddumus, "Oh dear oh dear."

"You aren't..." Hoggle stumbled over his words, "You aren't going to make her run again are you?"

A cruel grin slowly spread across Jareth's face, his eyes flashing maliciously, "But of course." He replied, "They are the rules."

*

"But surely it's a good thing if she comes back, the prophecy would have another chance to be completed," called Rose over the chorus of lamentations coming from Hoggle, Diddumus, a beast whose name was apparently Ludo and a gathering of goblins.

"Jareth mad!" wailed Ludo, while many nodded solemnly.

"What do you mean he's mad?" asked The Doctor, fast becoming exasperated that he did not understand what was happening.

"Just that," grumbled Hoggle, "he's mad, real mad. Mad at her especially. Mad at her for leaving. Mad at her for coming. Mad at her for not loving him back. It's a whole lot of mad. If he makes Sarah come back, which she will, for Toby, then who knows what he'll do. Whatever it is, it won't be pretty."

Another mumble of agreement ran through the crowd as goblins shook their heads mournfully. "Poor Lady Sarah." One goblin sat near to Diddumus sobbed, burring his head in the small knight's shoulder.

"**Pull yourself together Sir Goblin!" he cried vehemently, "We must muster our forces and strike out to aid our fair maiden!"** **For the first time since news of Sarah's return to the Labyrinth silence returned to the throne room where everyone had gathered. Finally one goblin timidly spoke out, "Strike out? Against his Majesty?"** **The goblins looked around trying to see how everyone else was reacting without meeting anyone's eyes. **_**They couldn't do that, could they?**_

*****

"**I don't understand," Rose told Doctor as he rummaged around in the TARDIS, searching for something, "Why is this 'Lady Sarah' so important that these goblins would turn against their King for her? And why do they call her **_**Lady**_** Sarah?"** "**Ha!" cried Doctor, "I found it!"** **Darting over to where Rose was stood, he flourished a scroll in her face before unfurling it with great ceremony. "These," he declared, "are the records of High King Oberon's rule: A gift from my last visit to court. Now Oberon is Jareth's Father, so, it should have some mention of our elusive Lady Sarah."** _**Lady Sarah, Keeper and Carer of the Great Labyrinth, won her title after her first victory against said Labyrinth and Her Master, King Jareth of the Goblin Kingdom. Of mortal decent, Lady Sarah is the daughter of Jonathon Kylie Williams and Kathrynne Ann Williams (nee Lucas). Only other immediate family is one Tobias John Williams, half brother. **_ "**That is strange," the Doctor broke off from reading, "Everything after this is in shift. This page used to go on for miles but now those sentences are the only things set. The rest could change."**__

"But is that good, or bad?" asked Rose, eyeing the blurring parchment.

Breaking into his usual grin, The Doctor clapped his hands together enthusiastically, "We'll just have to find out won't we, but since it's already in shift, it means we can help."

At this that he grinned gleefully and darted out of the TARDIS, Rose right on his heels.


End file.
